The Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion is a 2003 American supernatural horror comedy film based on the Disney theme park attraction of the same name. Directed by Rob Minkoff, the film is written by David Berenbaum and stars Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Nathaniel Parker, Marsha Thomason, Jennifer Tilly, and Dina Spybey. The film was theatrically released in the United States on November 26, 2003 and is Disney's fifth film based on an attraction at one of its theme parks, following the television film Tower of Terror (1997), Mission to Mars (2000), The Country Bears (2002), and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). The film grossed $182.3 million worldwide on a $90 million budget and received negative reviews from critics, citing lack of scares and humor. Plot In a backstory, a wealthy landowner named Gracey falls in love with a beautiful multiracial woman of one of the manor's servants named Elizabeth Henshaw. However, he was misled into believing that his love spurned him, and later hangs himself in grief and despair after believing her death by poison to be suicide. Later in the present, Jim (Eddie Murphy) and Sara Evers (Marsha Thomason) are successful realtors with two children, impatient and sassy Megan (Aree Davis) and arachnophobic Michael (Marc John Jefferies). As a workaholic, Jim has little time for his family due to his continuous pursuit for new deals and businesses. When he misses his wedding anniversary with his wife Sara, he tries to make amends by suggesting a vacation to a nearby lake. Beforehand, Sara is contacted by the occupants of Gracey Manor, located in the Louisiana bayou. Eager to make a deal, Jim drags Sara and his children to the mansion. They meet its owner Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), his stern butler Ramsley (Terence Stamp), and other staff members, helpful maid Emma (Dina Spybey) and bumbling footman Ezra (Wallace Shawn). When a storm floods the nearby river, Gracey allows the Evers family to stay the night; though everyone is safe, Jim is unhappy with the idea. Ramsley takes Jim to the mansion's library to discuss the deal with Gracey, but while he waits, Jim gets trapped in a secret passage. Sara talks to Gracey in the library, and as Gracey gives a tour, he talks about his past and explains his grandfather's death after the suicide of his lover, Elizabeth, as both had plans to wed. Meanwhile, Megan and Michael encounter a spectral orb and follow it up to the attic, where they find a portrait of a woman eerily resembling Sara. There they converse with Emma and Ezra, whose identifying the woman as "Elizabeth". Jim meets Madame Leota, a Romani woman's ghost whose head is encased in a crystal ball, but she scares him away. Jim runs into his children, Emma and Ezra, and returns to Madame Leota for answers about Elizabeth's likeness to Sara. It is revealed that everyone in the mansion are ghosts, cursed a century ago by Gracey and Elizabeth's suicides and can only move to the afterlife when they are reunited, and Gracey believes Sara is Elizabeth's reincarnation. Madame Leota sends the Evers off to the mansion's expansive cemetery to find a key that will reveal the truth behind Elizabeth's unusual death. Jim and Megan venture into a crypt beneath a mausoleum where they find the key, but inadvertently disturb its undead residents. They escape with help from Michael, who overcomes his arachnophobia. Madame Leota then leads them to a trunk in the attic, which Jim unlocks to find a letter written by Elizabeth to Gracey, revealing she truly loved him and wanted to marry him, leading them to conclude that she was murdered. Ramsley suddenly appears, revealing he murdered Elizabeth to prevent Gracey from abandoning his heritage, believing their relationship was unacceptable. To hide the truth, he traps the children in a trunk, throws Jim out of the house, and magically enchants the house so Jim cannot break in and stop him. As Gracey and Sara rendezvous in the ballroom, the former asks Sara if she can recognize him which confuses her. Desperate, he insists to Sara that she is his beloved Elizabeth. The room fills with dancing ghosts of the past which causes Sara to flee. As she runs through the corridors, Gracey reveals his true ghost-self to Sara begging her to understand and that they can finally be together. Sara insists that she is not Elizabeth and Gracey begins to have second thoughts, but Ramsley insists that it is her and in time she will remember. As Ramsley tells Sara to get ready for her wedding to Gracey, she refuses, but Ramsley blackmails her into marrying Gracey in return for her children's safety. Encouraged by Madame Leota, Jim drives his car through the mansion's conservatory, rescues his children, and stops Sara and Gracey's wedding ceremony where he gives Elizabeth's letter to Gracey, revealing to him the truth about Elizabeth's death and that Ramsley had lied to him about it all those years. Gracey confronts Ramsley, who rages at his master's apparent selfishness for loving Elizabeth, and summons wrathful ghosts to kill the group for revenge. However, a fiery dragon emerges from the ballroom fireplace to drag Ramsley down to Hell for eternal damnation. Ramsley attempts to take Jim with him, but Gracey saves Jim and leaves Ramsley to be dragged to his deserved punishment. Sara suddenly collapses, having been poisoned by Ramsley during the wedding, only for the spectral orb encountered by the children to appear and possess Sara, revealed to be Elizabeth's ghost. Elizabeth and Gracey reunite, and Sara is revived. With the curse lifted, Gracey gives the Evers the mansion's deed and departs to Heaven with Elizabeth, Emma, Ezra, and the other ghosts. The Evers drive across the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway for a proper vacation, accompanied by Madame Leota, and four singing busts strapped to the back of their car. In a post-credits scene, Madame Leota bids farewell to the audience, inviting them to join the dead using dialogue from the Disneyland attraction. Cast *Eddie Murphy as Jim Evers, a successful but workaholic real estate agent who is often late for family gatherings, but tries his best to make up for it. *Terence Stamp as Ramsley, the mysterious butler of Gracey Manor who serves as a fatherly figure to Master Gracey. He is later revealed to be Elizabeth's murderer. *Nathaniel Parker as Master Edward Gracey, the polite and friendly owner of Gracey Manor who longs for his lost love Elizabeth to return to him after her apparent suicide. *Marsha Thomason as Sara Evers, Jim's supporting wife who is also a realtor. Thomason also portrays Elizabeth Henshaw, Master Gracey's mixed-race lover. *Jennifer Tilly as Madame Leota, a gypsy woman whose spirit is encased in a crystal ball as a head shrouded by green mist. She speaks in cryptic riddles. *Wallace Shawn as Ezra, a ghost of a bumbling footman who worries about getting into trouble. *Dina Spybey as Emma, a ghost of a nervous but helpful maid who seems terrified of Ramsley. *Marc John Jefferies as Michael Evers, Jim and Sara's arachnophobic 10-year-old son. For the role, Jefferies based his character's fear of spiders on Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter series. *Aree Davis as Megan Evers, Jim and Sara's 13-year-old daughter who is impatient and stroppy. *The Dapper Dans as The Singing Busts. *Deep Roy, Jeremy Howard as the Hitchhiking Ghosts. *Corey Burton as The Ghost Host (voice) Category:2003 releases Category:Movies Category:Disney Category:Comedy Movies Category:Horror movies Category:Theatrical releases